Monday, March 08, 2010

Well, it's March 8; there had better be some signs of spring by now or I'd be sobbing in a snowdrift. The yard is still about half-covered in snow and ice, but with temps in the 40s this week and even some rain, the snow is disappearing quickly. Where it has unfrozen, the soil is a sodden, muddy mess, as is my kitchen floor. Oh well, that's the price we pay for sights like this...

Species tulips. Hopefully the orange stripes will go away now that they're exposed to the sunlight.

Hyacinths!

Peony sprout. I don't even like peonies but, well, there it is.

Daffodils!

The rhododendron survived the winter just fine in its sheltered corner.

I had forgotten about these irises. My grandma gave me a bunch of rhizomes last fall and I stuck them into a random hole temporarily. They seem to be doing okay despite having a hose on them. (No, I never brought the hose in. I always meant to, but, you know.)

Two species of moss now live in my shade garden, one leafy and one fuzzy (those are technical bryophyte terms, I'm sure). Also, the columbines are starting to grow.

And, as always, there are dogs:
Lucy keeps an eye on the neighborhood squirrels and birds. She takes her job very seriously.

Foley blends in well with the dead winter vegetation. Need to tie a bright pink bow around her neck so we can find her.

5 comments:

Foley's got some serious camouflage going on, but what a sweet expression - was there a squirrel? Don't feel too bad about leaving the hose out, I accidentally left one of mine out too. Have you heard about a new product that's for washing muddy paws? You put the paw into the thing that's filled with water and when the paw is pulled out, it's clean. I'd have bought that had it been around when I had the Borzoi. Nothing like mud balls between the toe pads.

Yeah! What wonderful things to find! So far I have been too much of a wimp to really look for signs of life in the garden. I'll start gingerly digging under the leaves and then get cold, wet and discouraged and just go inside. I think I'm secretly scared that nothing's there, so I keep stalling!

My hyacinths were about exactly as high as yours on that date, but my tulips didn't come up til a bit later. You know, I was never wild about peonies but a client gave me some divisions... now I really look forward to them blooming. I'm not wild about the flower itself, but I *love* the bright red foliage (I think of them as faerie Tiki torches) and I adore the buds before they open (so Monetesque). And I like the ants on the buds, too. Eh yep.

About me!

I recently completed my doctorate in evolutionary biology at the University of Illinois - Chicago. Now I'm living the rural life in Colorado's Front Range with Too Much Coffee Husband, Foley the greyhound, and Sammie the Wonder Mutt.